


Forks in the Road

by Providence26



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 12:46:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13524549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providence26/pseuds/Providence26
Summary: Because I love Jeri Ryan's character Patrice La Rue, and she deserves some action too





	Forks in the Road

She couldn’t believe she had gone to the trouble of wearing matching underwear for this, to listen to her ‘friend’ Alex Cabot talk about her OkCupid matches. OkStupid more like. When Alex asked her to dinner, there seemed to be something more formal in the way she asked this time that gave the Detective hope, hope that this would be the dinner that would take them beyond friends and towards lovers. Christ, she’d even shaved her legs.

“Look at this one Liv, he’s so cute, with his puppy!” Alex held the phone up for her to see.

Liv smiled and took a larger swig of her white wine to erase the bitter taste in her mouth.

“We’re going for dinner on Friday, a man who likes dogs can’t be all bad, right?”

“He’s probably a great guy.” She did her best not to gag on the words, but she was more than ready for this evening to be over. Her outfit felt out of place on her, she was far too overdressed to be just dining with a friend, she was feeling claustrophobic and just wanted to be at home, by herself so she could cry herself to sleep in private and get over this foolish idea of there ever being something more between them.

Alex was still talking, telling her about the plans for dinner with Mr Puppylover, but she wasn’t listening, hoping that autopilot would get her through the evening long enough for it to appear like she wasn’t bailing on a friend.

 

Alex could tell something was bothering Liv, but she knew her friend well enough to know that she would not open up in public,it would have to wait until they got back to her apartment, Liv always walked her home and came up for coffee, it was their routine, and the only time it wavered was if one of them was called away for work. She opted for the distraction technique until they could get back to her place. But the more she tried to distract Olivia, the more distance she could feel building up.

“You look lovely tonight Olivia.”

Liv looked at her, was that surprise on her face?

“Well, I mean, you always look lovely, but tonight especially so.”

“Thank you. Look Alex, can we finish this another time? I am not feeling great, I should probably just get some rest.”

“Oh. Sure, of course, whatever you need Liv, let me get you a taxi.”

Alex was being so kind, and it just made Olivia feel worse, as though she had failed her part of the friendship pact. Never fall in love with a straight girl. She was so mad at herself, she knew better, but there was something there between them, a connection, and she had thought Alex felt it too.

 

It had been several days since she had last seen Olivia, and she was starting to get the idea that Olivia was deliberately avoiding her, but she couldn’t pinpoint why, she hadn’t done or said anything unusual, they hadn’t fought. She missed her. She missed the way Olivia would make her laugh, the way she made sure Alex felt included with the squad, even the way she made her coffee when she turned up unannounced at the 1-6. Today Olivia had no excuses, Olivia was testifying for her in a brutal case, she may only see her whilst she was in the witness box, but it was something.

 

The masterful way Alex handled herself in the courtroom always mesmerized Olivia, she found herself in awe of the changes in the tone and cadence of Alex’s statements, the way she would subtly guide witnesses to where she needed them to be, eliciting information before they realized just how much they had given away. Her mind was so fast and sharp that it was inspiring to see her in front of a jury, watching them respond to her entreaties do give the victim justice.

 

“Not waiting for your girlfriend Detective?”

She hadn’t waited for Alex outside the courtroom, it was almost an unspoken agreement now that she would, but it was too much for the heartbroken detective today. 

Patrice LaRue, Defense counsel, was waiting for a response to her question, her case had been thoroughly decimated by Alex’s cross examination of the defendant. Neither of them could really believe that Patrice had let him get on the stand, but they knew it was always beneficial to the prosecution when they did, it meant they were too cocky and thus easier to trip up.

“Girlfriend?”

“Ms Cabot, of course.” Patrice looked at the Detective a little more closely, “Oh, I’m sorry, I truly thought you were together.”

“No…..we’re just friends, and that isn’t a euphemism, it’s true.”

“Her loss then.”

Olivia just gave a thin lipped smile and shrugged.

“So, you’re single then? Or are the other rumors true?”

Olivia looked at her suspiciously, “What other rumors?”

“About you and the good Detective Stabler.”

“What? He’s married!, I wouldn’t and neither would he.”

Patrice had the good grace to look mildly abashed, “He’s not your type though is he?”

Olivia looked away, she wasn’t sure what was happening, whether Patrice was looking for information to hold over her or if she was going out on a limb and was genuinely interested in her.

Patrice looked around, suddenly less confident about approaching the detective, she’d had a crush on her for awhile now, but thought that Cabot and Benson were joined at the hip, and she wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Look, do you want to go for coffee with me? There’s a nice place a couple of blocks over….”

“What’s your agenda Patrice? Are you looking to undermine future cases? Get intel from me to help your defenses?”

At the look of horror on Patrice’s face Olivia knew not only was she way off base but she was completely out of line.

“Forget I asked Detective, I was clearly mistaken when I came over here. Good Day.” She hurried away determined not to let Olivia know just how hurt she was by the accusation,she had only got a few paces before she felt a gentle hand on her arm.

“Patrice, wait, I am sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things, I am not used to people being interested without there being some underlying agenda.”

“I am interested Detective, I have been for awhile, and I have no problem passing up any case that would be a conflict of interest for us. Believe it or not, but I take justice just as seriously as you, and we may be on opposing sides, but we are both necessary parts of the system, in order to have a prosecution, there must be a defense.”

Olivia nodded, she may not like that scum got to have high priced attorneys to represent them, but she knew they were a necessary evil. “So, about this coffee…”

Patrice gave her such a radiant smile that she knew that the attorney was genuinely interested in spending time with her, she held out her arm for Patrice to take as they headed towards the coffee shop, and felt a lightness in her heart begin to replace the heaviness Alex’s disinterest had left within her.


End file.
